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JOURNAL OF TEACHER ACTION RESEARCH

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Scriptwriting: Exploring the Use of Mentor Texts

to Extend the Readers Theater Experience

Kristie Miner, Patricia Follette, Timothy Rasinski, Kasim Yildirim

Abstract: Readers theater is a recommended instructional approach to improve students’ proficiency in fluency and

comprehension. Having students author and perform authentic readers theater scripts based on high-quality literature extends the readers theater experience and provides students opportunities for deep reading and exemplary models for

writing. In this article, we describe a scriptwriting unit of study designed for fourth- and fifth-grade students and provide

evidence that supports how using mentor texts in scriptwriting can improve students’ writing both in terms of quality and quantity.

s. Miller (all names are pseudonyms) is working with her fourth-grade students on a

script-writing unit of study. After teaching a mini-lesson on scene selection, she sits

down to confer with a small group of students who recently read As Simple as It Seems

by Sarah Weeks.

Ms. Miller: I see your group has decided on a scene for your readers theater script. What are you

thinking about?

Tanner: We wanted to choose a scene from our book that had a lot of tension and conflict.

Aubrey: We thought that would draw the audience into our performance.

Anthony: We decided on the part in the book where Verbena and her mom are arguing.

Ms. Miller: Tell me more about that scene.

Kaitlyn: Verbena has a lot going on in her life. She doesn’t like how her mom treats her like a

baby. Her mom and dad are a lot older than the parents of most kids her age, and she doesn’t like

that either.

Aubrey: She just wants to be left alone, and her mother just keeps bothering her.

Tanner: The scene we picked ends with a giant fight between Verbena and her mother.

Anthony: Verbena runs up the stairs to her bedroom and slams the door shut really hard.

Ms. Miller: Wow! It sounds like you picked a scene that will get your audience’s attention. I

can’t wait to see how it unfolds!

Readers theater has been widely recommended as an approach for improving students’ reading

fluency and overall reading achievement (Griffith & Rasinski, 2005; Rasinski, Reutzel, Chard, &

Linan-Thompson, 2011). In this article we explore extending the readers theater experience by

having students create their own scripts from authentic literature they have read.

M


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Comprehension, the ultimate goal of reading, refers to the reader’s ability to access the author’s

meaning from a given text. One must wonder if a reader does not understand the text, if reading

has occurred at all. Graham and Herbert (2011), in their research review on the impact of writing

on reading, report that students’ writing about material they’ve read improves their

comprehension of material. When students create a script based on a text they have read, they

spend a great deal of time reviewing and responding to the text.

Bloom’s taxonomy (Bloom, Engelhart, Furst, Hill, & Krathwohl, 1956) offers many scholars and

practitioners a way to conceptualize learning and comprehension. The highest level of learning

according to a recent revision of Bloom’s taxonomy (Krathwohl, 2002) is “creating.” When

readers are able to take what has been read and create, compose, produce, or imagine something

new, it provides evidence that they have achieved a high level of comprehension or

understanding of the original text. Thus, we view scriptwriting based upon texts students have

previously read as a creative approach for deepening students’ comprehension of the original

texts.

In addition to viewing scriptwriting as a way for students to improve their comprehension

through creative interpretation of a text, we also see the transformation of texts into scripts as

opportunities to improve students’ writing. As students work with original texts, or what have

been termed mentor texts, transforming them into scripts, they discover what the authors did to

create these exemplary pieces of writing. Students are then able to transfer and apply these

discoveries into their own writing as they develop their scripts.

Dorfman and Cappelli (2007) define mentor texts as pieces of literature that students can return

to repeatedly in order to scaffold them in developing their competency in and capacity for

writing. Smith (1994) calls this “reading like a writer” (p. 195), meaning the student is “reading

with the author, as if one were writing the text oneself” (p. 195-196). “In other words, the writer

positions him or herself beside the author and studies how the text is constructed and how it

communicates” (Culham, 2011, p. 249).

Graham and Perin (2007) identify the “Study of Models” as one of the essential elements in

helping students develop critical writing competencies. They recommend that teachers provide

students with opportunities to read, analyze, and emulate “the critical elements, patterns, and

forms embodied in the models in their own writing” (p. 20). Culham (2011) notes that “models…

are what students should be turning to for examples of what good writing looks like in its many

forms” (pp. 248-249).

Although the use of mentor texts for writing has been well established, less is known about the

impact of scriptwriting from mentor texts on students’ writing. Few scholarly reports have

explored scriptwriting in the elementary classroom (Rasinski & Young, 2011; Young &

Rasinski, 2011). Given our limited understanding of scriptwriting based on mentor texts, we

chose to explore how a scriptwriting experience in real classrooms may impact the writing of a

group of fourth and fifth grade students. Interestingly, the new Common Core State Standards for

English Language Arts (2010) identifies the ability to write narratives that include dialogue,

description, and show the responses of characters to situations as a key standard for fourth and

fifth grades. Scriptwriting, based on mentor texts, provides students with the opportunity to

develop these standards-based skills in their own writing.


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In this article we describe a “use-inspired” (Stanovich & Stanovich, 2003) exploratory study of

how fourth- and fifth-grade students in a rural upstate New York school engaged in a unit of

study in readers theater scriptwriting. The process included text selection, literature study,

scriptwriting and performance. It required students to engage in high levels of comprehension in

order to create authentic scripts that built on the writing of experienced authors of high-quality

children’s literature. As a result, students came away from the experience with a deeper

understanding of the texts they read and improved writing skills in the genre of scriptwriting.

Project Overview

Three fourth-grade teachers, two fifth-grade teachers and one special education teacher with

teaching experience ranging from one to thirty years accepted the invitation to participate in the

teacher-research project. The students from the five classes included 60 fourth-grade students and

36 fifth-grade students. Each class consisted of a heterogeneous mix of students with reading

abilities ranging from above grade-level to below grade-level. Additionally, one fifth-grade class

included students with learning disabilities.

It was explained to the teachers that the project would require 60-minutes of instructional time

each day during the months of February and March and would consist of three components. The

first component immersed students in quality grade-appropriate literature through literature study

for about two weeks. The second component took students through a four-week readers theater

scriptwriting unit of study during writing workshop. In the third component, students rehearsed

(engaged in repeated reading of) the scripts over a period of two weeks, culminating with groups

of students performing their scripts during a Family Literacy Night.

As an introduction to the project, teachers worked with Kristie (first author) to gain an

understanding of literature study and readers theater scriptwriting and performing. They

investigated the process of literature study (Fountas & Pinnell, 2006), examined published

readers theater scripts, and viewed video clips of former students and children’s book authors

performing scenes from familiar texts (see www.teachingbooks.net for Authors Readers Theatre

performances). To facilitate the process, teachers were provided with a set of mini-lessons in

both literature study and readers theater scriptwriting that Kristie had developed. The mini-

lessons included topics like choosing scenes with humor and tension to increase the dramatic

effect, editing for dialogue tags, adding text to allow the audience to understand the scene more

fully, and trimming descriptive passages to focus on the dramatic core. The teachers worked

collaboratively to develop a timeline, and for the next eight weeks they met on a weekly basis to

problem solve and share their ideas and progress.

Students were introduced to the project in a way that mirrored the teachers’ introduction. It was

explained to them that they would be taking part in a “project” that encompassed reading,

writing, and performing. They had an opportunity to view video clips of students and

professionals performing and peruse published scripts, recording their findings about the genre of

scriptwriting. Once students had the big picture, they participated in the project from the ground

up.


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Step 1: Selecting Quality Texts

Student choice of text was an important consideration to ensure that students were immersed in

literature that was both high in quality and personally engaging. Students began by first

researching their favorite authors’

works online and reviewing books

found in their classroom and school

libraries.

The genres of the books they reviewed

included fantasy, historical fiction,

mystery, and realistic fiction. After researching authors and titles, each

class compiled a list of between 4-6 of

their most popular titles and each

student chose his or her personal top

three. Figure 1 shows each class’s final

book choices.

Figure 1: Final Book Choices


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Once book selections were finalized, teachers created literature study groups based on the

students’ preferences.

Step 2: Implementing Literature Study

The groups began by mapping out their reading over a 2-week period. All students read the texts

with some using assistive technology (e.g., audio books) to make the texts accessible. They met

weekly in teacher-facilitated literature study groups to share their thinking and deepen their

understandings about what they had read. After the books had been read and discussed, students

began the work of writing their readers theater scripts.

Step 3: Implementing a Scriptwriting Unit of Study

A series of teacher-created mini-lessons were presented in whole-group settings. They were

designed to help students adapt a section or sections of the narrative text they had read and

discussed into a seven to eight page readers theater script.

On the first few days of this writing unit, students learned strategies for choosing scenes for their

scripts (see Figure 2 for mini-lesson).

Figure 2: Lesson Plan


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No limit was set on the number of scenes students could choose, but they were encouraged to

focus on one or two. They applied this learning by reviewing their texts to find scenes that were

rich in dialogue and helped communicate the character’s voice to the audience. To increase the

dramatic effect in their scriptwriting, they searched for and chose scenes filled with humor and

tension based on examples found in mentor texts that were used in the mini-lessons. Figure 3

features an excerpt from a dramatic scene that students chose from Midnight Magic (Avi, 1999).

Figure 3: Script

Once the scenes were chosen, students began making decisions about which characters and roles

to include in the script to portray the scene clearly. They also had to decide if one or more

narrators were needed to help tell the story. Students learned how to remove dialogue tags (e.g.,


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“he said” and “she said”) in order for the conversation between characters to sound authentic.

Some scenes the students chose were filled with descriptive text. As students developed the

scenes, they trimmed descriptive passages and focused on the dramatic core of the text. Students

learned to combine passages from different parts of the story to clearly convey meaning, and in

some cases, they added text to allow the audience to more fully understand and visualize the

scene.

Students learned about the importance of writing a script that would be entertaining and engaging

to a variety of audiences. They learned how to divide long sections of text, striving for a balance

among performers’ voices. Students also learned how to enrich their performances by

incorporating a few timely special effects (e.g., sound of a car honking its horn, a clap of thunder

ushering in a storm).

Step 4: Practicing and Performing

After the scripts were written, students began practicing for their performances.

During this two-week time period, they listened to the flow of the story and edited their texts to

improve the rhythm of their scenes. As performance time drew near, they finalized their scripts

and through repeated reading, focused

their attention on the delivery. They

listened and coached each other to

effectively use phrasing and

intonation to develop their characters

and build humor and tension. The

goal of the repeated reading rehearsal

was to deliver the text to the audience

in a way that enhanced the audience

members’ understanding and

appreciation of the characters and

story. The students dressed in black

for their performances and used their

scripts and voices to successfully

portray their stories.

On performance night, over 200 family members

and friends gathered to enjoy the performances.

Audience members responded enthusiastically to

the performances!

Impact of Scriptwriting

The focus of our classroom study was the impact

of writing scripts on students’ writing and in

particular, in their ability to incorporate their use


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of voice and development of characters and story in their writing. Prior to the initiation of the

readers theater project all 96 fourth- and fifth-grade students who participated in the project were

asked to provide a prompted writing sample. The prompt asked students to think about notable

characters that they encountered in their reading, put them into an interesting situation, and create

a brief story. Students were specifically asked to describe the setting for their narrative and to

include a conversation between characters in order to allow readers to “get to know more about

your characters.” Students were given up to thirty minutes to complete their stories.

Approximately eight weeks later, at the conclusion of the readers theater project, students were

again asked to provide a writing sample using the same prompt. Again, students were given up to

thirty minutes to complete their stories. The pre- and post-project writing samples were paired.

Then, 24 pairs of writing samples (a quarter of all writing samples) were randomly selected for

analyses. See Appendix for one student’s pre- and post-project writing samples.

Given that a purpose of readers theater script reading and performance is the improvement in

reading fluency, we wondered if script writing, followed by rehearsal and performance, might

improve students’ writing fluency. Writing fluency can simply be defined as the amount of

coherent writing a writer can generate in a given period of time (Rathvon, 1999). Although

writing fluency may be considered a gross measure of writing, it is clearly important for writers

to get their words on the page in an efficient manner.

The first analysis, then, of the randomly selected writing sample pairs was a simple word count.

The results are reflected in Table 1.

Table 1: Descriptive Statistics of Pre- and Post-Test Measures on Volume of Writing

Pre-Project Post-Project

M SD M SD

Number of Words Witten 118.33 58.61 172.67 64.23

A t-test analysis of the difference in writing volume between the pre- and post-project writing

indicated that improvement made was significant (t = -2.958, p = .005).

Most students were able to write considerably more when responding to the same prompt after

having engaged in the scriptwriting project. We feel that the instruction provided in scriptwriting,

followed by the actual practice in writing, rehearsing, and performing the scripts contributed to

students being able to develop a metacognitive template for writing text that includes authentic

dialogue between characters.

Writing fluency is important. In order to be successful in writing, writers must be able to get their

words on the page. However, we were also interested in the quality of students’ writing. Because

the development of a script requires writers to consider story development and character voice,

we analyzed changes in students’ use of voice and development of characters and story in their

writing samples.

A second analysis of pairs of writing samples was then done to assess students’ use of voice, and

character and story development. A rubric was developed to guide independent raters in

evaluating the students’ writing (see Figure 6).


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Figure 6: Writing Evaluation Guide

The rubric contained four criteria that reflected voice and six criteria that reflected character and

story development. Criteria for the rubric were determined by examining a number of rubrics

including Education Northwest’s 6+1 Trait® Rubrics that specifically addressed the areas of

voice, story and character development.

Raters could evaluate each criterion on a four-point scale (4= outstanding, 3= sufficient, 2=

limited and 1= insufficient). Total scores for each writing sample could range from 10 to 40. Two

sets of raters were asked to read and rate each pre- and post-project writing sample. Pre- and

post-writing samples were randomly arranged so that raters could not identify the names of the

students who wrote the scripts or if they were rating pre- or post-project writing samples.

Authorship of papers was also randomized so that raters knew that any writing sample adjacent

to the one they were currently reading was not written by the same student.

All raters were college graduates who had taken coursework in written composition and who use

writing in their own professional work. Two sets of raters were used in order to determine the

reliability of the ratings. After all the ratings were complete, a correlation between the first and

second set of raters was determined. A moderate but significant (p = .006) positive correlation (r

= .394) was found. This finding means that the raters, in general, agreed with one another on the

relative quality of the writing. In order to honor both ratings for each writing sample the two

individual ratings for each sample were summed (range of scores increased to 20 -80). The

qualitative ratings for the pre- and post-project writing samples are reflected in Table 2.


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Table 2: Descriptive Statistics of Pre- and Post-Test Measures on Qualitative Assessment (N =

48)

Pre-Project Post-Project

M SD M SD

Qualitative Rating 22.19 7.71 27.75 6.79

A t-test analysis of the difference in qualitative ratings between the pre- and post-project writing

indicated that improvement made in the post-project writing was significant (t = -3.755, p <

.001).

We acknowledge that our project was limited in terms of internal validity (Stanovich &

Stanovich, 2003): size, duration of instruction, control over instructional practices, and the

analyses employed. Moreover, our analyses do not control for developmental changes in student

writing in the absence of scriptwriting. However, we feel the study is high in external validity – it

took place in real classrooms under authentic teaching conditions. The purpose of this classroom-

based study was exploratory in nature – we wished to determine if there is possible or potential

instructional merit in using mentor texts for scriptwriting to improve student writing in actual

classroom settings. The results of our analyses suggest that instruction in writing scripts for

performance appeared to lead to increases in writing fluency and in improvements in students’

ability to incorporate their use of voice and development of characters and story in their writing.

These results suggest that the opportunity to explore and receive instruction in scriptwriting

writing may contribute to the students’ ability to write more fluently and improve the quality of

their writing, in terms of story and character development and voice integration. Clearly, more

research is needed in this area. However, our study does suggest that a scripting approach to

writing instruction may be a fruitful approach and is worthy of further consideration in the

scholarly community.

Student Responses

Students’ perceptions of the scriptwriting experience may offer insight into its impact. In

interviews that followed the project students offered a variety of thoughtful responses. When

asked about how scripting affected how they thought about and comprehended the original texts

from which the scripts were developed, Kayla responded, “Earlier when I read I would just look

on the surface of thinking. Now I try to dig down deeper and think how I would react.” (Student

names are pseudonyms.) Max offered, “It helps me understand because in scriptwriting we had to

re-read and that makes me know a lot more than I used to.” And Jonathan, thinking about how he

would have to perform the script said, “It helped me think more about the characters because I

was going to have to act as those characters.”

The notion of recasting or transforming the original text seemed to impact several students’ text

comprehension. Ava noted that, “Writing my script helped me understand my book better

because when I wrote it (the script), it was a lot easier to get what they (the characters) were

saying…at the beginning, I didn’t get what they were telling me but now I do.” And Abigail

added, “It improved my understanding of the original text when I got to put it in my own words.”

Sam suggested, “It helps when you put the script into your own words…it helps a lot.”


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Students were also able to note how scriptwriting affected their writing dialogue. Jonathan

reported that writing a script “helped me because now I make things sound like I’m actually

saying it. I now use dialogue to show what the characters are like and narration to explain what

they are doing.” Julie pointed to the how scriptwriting helped her make affective connections to

her writing, “It’s helped me add emphasis to some things and add vivid details. I use dialogue to

show emotional feeling. I use narration to help people get to know my character.” Grace also

understood how the text that was transformed into a script provided a model for her own writing,

“I use narration to describe what the characters look like, what they sound like, even what they

can smell like. I was inspired by Paint the Wind because the lady who wrote it described all those

things.”

Teachers who participated in the project also commented on the positive impact of scriptwriting.

Teachers noted that scriptwriting led students to a deeper analyses of original texts and fostered

cooperative learning skills as they worked together to create their scripts. Perhaps the greatest

benefit noted by teachers was the increased confidence in students as readers and writers.

Engaging in an authentic and creative experience that was eventually performed for an audience

helped students see themselves as readers and writers who read and write for an authentic

purpose. Five of six teachers surveyed commented that students found the experience engaging

and interesting and their interest in reading and writing had increased noticeably. One teacher

noted that student conversations about texts went from being “within texts” to “beyond texts and

about texts.” Through the process of scriptwriting, students were moving from more literal

interpretations of texts to more inferential, nuanced, and creative considerations of texts and text

structure.

Conclusion and Implications

When designing this project, we anticipated seeing improvements in students’ writing through

the readers theater scriptwriting project. Indeed, the findings from our limited analyses suggest

that the students’ writing improved. Both in terms of quantity and quality students made

substantial improvements in their writing. There are several factors that we feel may have

contributed to these gains.

First, the students used high quality literature as mentor texts. One of the best ways to learn to

write well is to read and study authors who write well (Culham, 2011). Thus, through their

choice of quality literature students were supported by mentor texts that they could emulate in

their own writing. Students studied and discovered how authors of mentor texts create quality

writing, worthy of publication.

Second, the power of transforming a text into a script cannot be underestimated. In the

transformational process, students continually referred back to the mentor text and made

decisions about what to include, edit, or revise in their scripts. In doing so, they made judgments

about what was noteworthy and significant in the text. Students were motivated by this creative

act of transformation to construct new and valuable texts that they eventually performed for an

audience.

Third, because of the nature of scriptwriting, narration and dialogue are used to make the

characters and story come alive. This is no small task and students worked constantly to write

and revise their scripts in order to effectively tell the story through the narrator and the voices of

the characters, along with an occasional, well-placed sound effect.


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Fourth, because scripts are meant to be performed orally for an audience, students had to rehearse

their scripts. During rehearsals, students had the opportunity to investigate character and voice

development. Students explored different ways of expressing their lines orally. Hearing the lines

read aloud with appropriate fluency, phrasing and expression is certainly a fine way to test the

quality and authenticity of the written lines. Indeed, the success of the eventual performance is

dependent on the audience’s ability to understand the script and appreciate the work of the

scriptwriter and performers.

Finally, the tasks involved in writing, rehearsing, and performing scripts was a very authentic

task that can be found in the real world. Indeed, many references to real world examples of these

tasks were made during the study. The authenticity of the instructional approach made it highly

engaging and motivating for students. Students created something of value that did not exist

previously.

The positive results of this study indicate that more research into the impact of scriptwriting on

students’ writing development would be worthy of further investigation. A study of this limited

size and design may be suggestive but it clearly is not definitive. More work examining the

impact of longer periods of scriptwriting on a variety of writing variables is called for. We do

feel, however, that the study does suggest some possible courses of action by teachers.

Teachers are often looking for ways that students can extend their experiences with reading

literature. We think that transforming texts into scripts is an authentic and engaging extension

activity that teachers can employ. Scriptwriting of this sort requires students to examine mentor

texts more closely, engage in repeated reading of scripts, write in a new genre, and engage in a

creative act, one that according to Bloom’s taxonomy is evidence of high-level thinking and

understanding.

Throughout this project, it was exciting to see the growth in both the students and teachers

involved. The value of scriptwriting in developing students’ critical competencies in reading and

writing were evident throughout the project and were reinforced by data results. One of the

greatest and long-lasting rewards of using mentor texts for script writing and then performing

them in an authentic manner in front of eager and appreciative audience is the sense of

accomplishment and confidence the students gained. Based on what we have found and report in

this article, we would encourage you to consider making scriptwriting from mentor texts a part of

your literacy curriculum.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

Special thanks to Molly Babcock, Theresa Cialone, Laura Beth Farwell, Ken Hand, Susan

Musshafen, and Lauren Sonalkar, dedicated teachers who volunteered to devote their time and

effort to this study.


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ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Kristie Miner is the Intermediate Literacy Coordinator for the Whitney Point Central School District in

Whitney Point, New York. She has 20 years of elementary-level teaching experience in both general and

special education. She completed her MSEd at Binghamton University and received a certificate of

advanced study in Literacy Coach Training for the Literacy Collaborative at Lesley University. Kristie is

currently enrolled in the doctoral program in Educational Theory and Practice at Binghamton University.

Patricia Follette is currently the superintendent of Whitney Point Central School District in Whitney Point,

NY. She earned her BA in Education from St. Joseph’s College, NY and received her MSEd as a reading

specialist from Binghamton University. After twelve years in the primary classroom, she earned her

credentials as an administrator from the State University of New York College at Cortland. She studied at

Lesley University, Massachusetts to become a Reading Recovery Teacher Leader and then worked as

Supervisor of School Curriculum Improvement and Educational Leadership at Broome-Tioga BOCES.

Before becoming superintendent, Patricia served as Director of Curriculum and Instruction with the

Whitney Point Central School District for four years. She is currently enrolled in Binghamton University’s

doctoral program.

Timothy Rasinski is a professor of literacy education at Kent State University. His scholarly interests

include reading fluency and word study, reading in the elementary and middle grades, readers who struggle,

and parental involvement. His research on reading has been cited by the National Reading Panel and has

been published in journals such as Reading Research Quarterly, The Reading Teacher, Reading Psychology,

and the Journal of Educational Research. Tim served on the Board of Directors of the International Reading

Association. He has also served as co-editor of The Reading Teacher and the Journal of Literacy Research.

In 2010 Tim was elected to the International Reading Hall of Fame. Prior to coming to Kent State Tim

taught literacy education at the University of Georgia. He taught for several years as an elementary and

middle school classroom and Title I teacher in Nebraska.

Kasim Yildirim is an associate professor at Mugla Sitki Kocman University. He received his Ph.D. in

Elementary Classroom Teaching from Gazi University. His research area includes Turkish language arts,

particularly reading fluency of elementary school students. He authored many articles about literacy

education of elementary school students.

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